Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Suri ... Another Peruvian Cuisine Delicacy

Hey there!

So we had an amazing week. Sorry I am writing on Tuesday. The reason is that yesterday we traveled to Huancayo for a Leadership Training Meeting. We left Huanuco at about 8 o´clock in the morning. We got just a little ways out of Huanuco and there just so happens to be a toooooooooooon of boulders and dirt in the middle of the road. There was a huge land slide! So we sat on the bus for a good 2 hours. We traveled for 12 hours!!!! by bus to Huancayo. We finally got to Huancayo and ate some Popeyes, yes, Popeyes Chicken (I'm really getting bored of chicken)!! and also some decently cooked french fries. So, right now I am in Huancayo getting ready to travel back to Huanuco tonight at 9:30 by bus again. We are supposed to arrive back in Huanuco at like 5 o´clock tomorrow morning. You know these sketchy roads and conditions here in the mission, now in the middle of the night! Everyone be praying that we make it there safe! haha (Nah, we will be safe!)

So this week was a pretty normal week. I'm so excited and happy to be back with Elder Crosland! It really is the best ever!

Elder Crosland and Elder Christensen

So we spent most of our week just walking around. We have contacted 1/4 of the doors in our area this week. Yeah, it is super small, but still! On Tuesday we had been contacting all day, and we were a little stuck and wondering which way to go and what to do next. I look at Elder Crosland and say "how about we contact the whole area! and where do you feel we need to go next to contact Elder?" He responded with a crazy answer! I said, "that's like the worst part of our area, and at the opposite end from where we are now!" but he answered and said, "well, we might as well start with the part we feel the worst about." So we went to one of the far corners of our area and started to contact. We contacted a whole street and it was getting to be about 7:00 at night. We had gone all day without a lesson. We looked see a guy down the street and I said, "Let's go and talk to that man." Just as we almost get there, the man walked into his house, so we knocked on the door and he came out. He said, "welcome, come in." Yeah, that doesn't just happen that often! We walked in, sat down and started to talk to him. It turns out that his name was Manuel, and he's an investigator that was supposed to get baptised the Saturday before I got to this area, one transfer ago. His daughter got really sick the day of his baptism and he had to take her to the hospital. After that he disappeared and we could never find him! That is until Tuesday!!! He told us that he still wants to get baptised, but he feels like he had failed God and the people in the church. We taught him about forgiveness. He is now willing to change again and he's excited an wants to get baptized.

God never loses track of his children. Sometimes Satan tries to intervene and redirect the path, but Heavenly Father is always aware and if our hearts are pure he will guide us back to where we really need to be. It was a gigantic miracle that we were able to find Manuel. Really he was placed right in front of us, and because we followed the promptings to go to that area we found him again. Miracles happen every day! I love this gospel, and my mission! I know that God lives, and he really does want all of His children to be happy. I love Him and I am so grateful for Him.

Elder Christensen

PS ... As you can see I tried another "delicacy" here in Peru! It's called Suri. Yeah it's the larva of a beetle. I'm here and I want to experience everything, so I guess I have to try everything here once!

About the Suri .... This worm, larva or grub is one of the largest edible insects in the Amazonia of Peru. Suri have a pearly white body, black head, and two teeth that look like little claws. Suri is the larva of the beetle, but until this grub becomes a beetle they live in the center part of a palm tree. Palm trees have a very delicate flavor, as do Suri. This insect has a high protein count, and is considered a medicinal substance by some. It's a delicacy in Peru. Natives prefer to eat it raw, however grilled is highly recommended or toasted in a pan so that the skin is crunchy and crispy!